Written by: CJ Trudell
CJ Trudell is a student at The Ohio State University studying Operations Management and Real Estate. He interned recently with Colliers | Columbus on the property management team. Keep reading to get CJ’s take on how his internship has helped him grow in his career.
What has been your favorite project to work on throughout your time at Colliers?
The project that stands out to me as my favorite was also my biggest challenge so far during my fall internship here at Colliers. Neyer Properties, the ownership group of 2780 Airport Dr, reached out with interest in earning Energy Star Certification while they are in the process of a partial build-out on one of the suites on the first floor. My goal was to first analyze the ‘Benchmarking’ process to identify past/current/target building performance then follow-up with the reconstruction ‘Retrocommissioning’ to find ways to gradually upgrade sustainable systems and processes. The two-step process took several weeks to gather all utility usage data from the past 24 months, research on the daily operations of the office building, and providing recommendations of green alternatives to improve overall ‘ENERGY STAR score’ using EUI (energy use intensity) in order to earn a 75 or higher on a 1-100 scale. I was able to complete the project for Neyer to process them towards the next steps of the certification process where they took over from there, hearing positive feedback from the Asset Managers was a rewarding feeling to know that my work made a positive impact on others.
What has been the biggest learning lesson you will take away from this internship?
Something that I will forever take away from this internship is something that Amanda Abraham stressed to me from my very first day at the office – she made it a point to make sure that I never feel as if people do not want to help me when I have a question that can be anything from simple to complex. I have been very grateful to have worked individually with each team member within the property management division here at Colliers that are all knowledgeable within the CRE industry and more than happy to take time to share their expertise to develop me. The strategy that I developed that I will take away from this internship when going to get help was to first attempt to take on the subject matter on my own then share with the person that is helping me what I know versus what I do not know so that they can easier explain to me what I am not fully understanding.
What aspects of commercial real estate has this internship made you more interested in?
In this internship, I have added another facet of knowledge to my young CRE repertoire. My sophomore year of college I worked in off-campus student housing leasing along with the 6 summers spent in multiple sectors of construction, I have now added property management to my background. I can confidently say that this internship has developed my interpersonal skills at the most rapid rate that I have experienced in any past job experience. Since starting at Colliers, my interest in brokerage and development has continued to grow as there is still so much more that I want to learn about. Building small knowledge about every aspect of how a firm runs is something that I wish that everyone had the opportunity to experience.
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